How to Insert a Hanging Indent

A hanging indent indents all of the lines in a paragraph except for the first. Hanging indents are most often used for numbered and bulleted lists, but they also are used for bibliographies and citations lists. Most word-processing programs have an option to insert hanging indents, including the industry-standard Microsoft Word. Hanging indents can be assigned individually to particular paragraphs easily in Microsoft Word.

Things You'll Need

• Microsoft Word

Instructions

1. Select the paragraph to which you wish to apply the hanging indent by clicking and holding your mouse button to the left of the first word in the paragraph and dragging down to the last word of the paragraph.

2. Click on "Format" in the menu bar and select "Paragraph."

3. Click on the "Special" drop-down menu in the "Indentation" section of the "Paragraph" dialog window, and select "Hanging." Click the "OK" button at the bottom right of the window.

References

• Webopedia: Hanging indent
• Allan Wyatt's Word Tips: Creating a Hanging Indent
• Computer Hope: Hanging Indent